


Trapped

by whitehorsetiger



Series: Moments [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, Langst, M/M, Major Character Injury, Non-Graphic Violence, Team Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-07
Updated: 2017-09-07
Packaged: 2018-12-25 02:35:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12026316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whitehorsetiger/pseuds/whitehorsetiger
Summary: Lance chuckled as the two of them shifted to their feet, until the ground shuddered. Lance didn't even think, shoving Keith roughly away from the edge and onto safer ground. The edge of the chasm gave way, taking Lance down with it. He barely registered Keith's shouts for him, his mind blank as he fell, until everything went dark.On a mission to save a species from a collapsing planet, Lance becomes trapped with no help of rescue. He must find a way to escape the collapsed tunnels while drawing strength from the memories of his team.





	Trapped

Lance froze cocking his head to one side. Grabbing the back of Keith's armour, he hauled to two of them behind a corner. Keith stiffened beside him as the sentries marched past, shifting deeper into the shadows. Lance frowned slightly, spotting a hole in the wall above Keith's head.  
"Pidge, where does that tunnel lead?" he hissed into the comms.  
"Give me a second," she replied, "It leads close to where you want to be."  
"Right," Lance replied.  
Keith was frowning at him, looking around for the tunnel Lance was talking about. Rolling his eyes, Lance gestured to it.  
"Come on," he said.  
Bracing himself on the wall, Lance boosted Keith up and into the tunnel.  
"It's small in here," Keith said.  
"Can we fit?" Lance asked, looking up at him.  
"I think so," Keith looked over the edge, reaching his hand down.  
Lance grabbed it, letting Keith haul him up. They began to crawl along the tunnel, it was a bit of a tight squeeze but they managed.   

The distress signal had arrived that morning, as they'd been eating breakfast. Obviously, they'd had to go help. What they'd found was an almost dead planet, the resources almost entirely stripped from it. Pretty much all the glara were gone, all that was left was the natives and a bunch of sentries keeping  them on their dying planet. Hunk, Pidge and Allura had gone in search of the main control room, trying to shut the security and the sentries down. Keith and Lance were out searching for the natives, most of them were briefed, ready for when the security went down so they could be evacuated.

Lance took several deep breaths as the tunnel got tighter, he wasn't exactly claustrophobic but after the incident with the air lock he tended to be on edge if there was a possibility of him being trapped. So he decided to distract himself, luckily Keith's stunning ass was directly in front of him. It always offered a good distraction. Keith stopped suddenly, causing Lance to almost crash into him.  
"We've reached the end," Keith hissed.  
"Right," Lance said, backing up so Keith could move his legs so he could jump down.  
Lance followed swiftly, winching as he ankle was jarred with the much higher drop than he was expecting.  
"Are you alright?" Keith asked softly.  
Lance nodded, "I'm fine, come on."

The two of them moved quickly along the tunnels, keeping out of the way of the sentries. Stealth was very important, the planet was extremely unstable, fighting was not an option if they didn't want the place to collapse on them.  
"You're getting close," Pidge said.  
"Right," Keith said, "How's progress on your end?"  
"Good," Pidge said, "We're practically there."  
Keith bobbed his head, letting out a breath of relief. Lance glanced up and down the corridor, before the two of them moved on. A soft chittering sounded from down the corridor, Lance recognised the noise.  
"That sounds like them?" he said.  
Keith nodded in agreement, the two of them edged forward. Something small suddenly launched itself at Lance, swinging a small rock at his head.  
"Lance!" Keith yelled.  
It didn't really matter, the natives were about the size of dogs, Lance easily grabbed it around the belly.  
"Easy! Easy! We are paladins of Voltron!" Lance said.  
"Voltron?" the native asked, stopping their thrashing in Lance's hands.  
"Yeah, we're here to evacuate your people," Lance continued, gently lowering them to the floor.  
Four eyes blinked at him, before it made a soft chirrup. Lots more of them emerged from seemingly everywhere.  
"Alright," Keith said, voice taking on a more commanding tone, "Follow me and we'll get you out, Lance bring up the rear."

They moved quickly, glancing around for any sentries.  
"Ok, take a right here and wait for our signal," Pidge said.  
"Alright," Keith replied.  
"Signal?" Lance added.  
"You'll know it when you see it," Pidge replied brightly.  
"Why do I get an impending sense of dread?" Lance said idly.  
Pidge scoffed, "Come on, I can't blow anything up this time."  
Lance groaned, rolling his eyes.

They were only there for a few ticks, until the lights flickered and went off, the emergency ones flickering on soon after. Lance and Keith glanced at each other.  
"That's the signal?" Keith said.  
"I think so," Lance said.  
"That was the signal, get moving!" Pidge yelled.  
"Go quickly, the planet's surface is becoming more unstable," Coran added.  
"Oh no," Hunk said, "I don't like where this is going."  
"It'll be fine Hunk," Lance said, nodding to Keith.  
The two of them moved almost in tandem, herding the natives forward. They ran through the tunnels, watching out just in case there were any solders left. Keith kicked aside one of the deactivated sentries, clearing their path.  
"We've managed to secure the others," Allura said, "We're waiting on you two."  
The ground gave a dangerous shudder, cracks appearing along the ground and ceiling of the tunnel. Keith glanced back at Lance, panic clear in his eyes.  
"Take off but keep close, we'll be there soon," Keith said, "We need to hurry."  
Lance let out a huff of breath, nodding. The natives made distressed sounds as the ground shook again, everyone broke into an almost flat out sprint.

A deep rumble, the sound of rock shifting. Lance had only a split second to react, darting forward to stop them falling down the chasm that had just opened. Keith stood at the other side, glancing down the chasm before looking over at Lance.  
"Um," Keith said, having come to the same conclusion Lance had.  
It was too big to jump across, Lance frowned slightly.  
"Do you mind if I throw you across?" Lance turned to the locals, who were all crowded around his legs, "I don't think we have much of a choice."  
They looked up at him, before one nodded the others chirruping in agreement.  
"Alright, Keith, you good to catch?" Lance asked, glancing up.  
"Yeah, yeah ok," Keith replied, visibly swallowing.  
"Right."  
He picked one of them up, tossing them across for Keith to catch. There were about ten over on Lance's side, which was lucky as the sides were crumbling rapidly, the chasm getting bigger.

"Alright," Lance muttered under his breath.  
HIs jetpack was fully charged, which was good. All the natives were over on Keith's side away from the edge, which was even better.  
"Keith, stand back," he said, backing up away from the edge.  
Keith looked over at him, hesitating before taking a few steps backwards. Their eyes locked, Lance let out a long breath before sprinting forward. Counting his steps, Lance braced himself to jump, until the ground he was on crumbled away. Yelping, Lance's arms flailed as he fell. Luckily he was in his right mind enough to activate his jetpack.  
"Lance!" Keith yelled, launching himself to the edge.  
Grabbing Keith's hand, Lance let out a relieved breath as he was pulled up onto the other side.  
"That was a close one," he said, smiling at Keith.  
"Idiot," Keith huffed, but there was no heat in it.  
Lance chuckled as the two of them shifted to their feet, until the ground shuddered. Lance didn't even think, shoving Keith roughly away from the edge and onto safer ground. The edge of the chasm gave way, taking Lance down with it. He barely registered Keith's shouts for him, his mind blank as he fell, until everything went dark.

****

Lance trotted idly into the kitchen, watching the intense focus on Hunk's face as he added ingredients to a bowl. A smile settled on his face as Lance walked up, well snuck up really. It wasn't really his intention, ok maybe it was a little.  
"How's it going?" Lance said brightly.  
Hunk jumped, splattering some of what he was adding over the counter. Lance couldn't stop a laugh bubbling out of his mouth.  
"Dude," Hunk said, a smile threatening to split his face.  
"Sorry, couldn't resist," Lance said, grabbing a cloth from the side and wiping up the mess.  
Hunk chuckled, shaking his head.  
"Anyway, it's going good," Hunk said, "I think these will be edible this time."  
"Oh yeah," Lance grinned, bouncing on the balls of his feet.  
Spinning around, Lance hopped up onto the counter, swinging his legs. Peering over into the bowl, Lance frowned at the slightly suspiciously bubbling concoction.  
"It's bubbling? Is it supposed to be bubbling?" he asked, leaning away slightly.  
"I don't know," Hunk said, "It just started and doesn't seem hot?"  
They glanced at each other, before shrugging.

It began to bubble and hiss more enthusiastically as more ingredients were added, they looked at each other.  
"We should probably stop," Hunk said.  
"Probably," Lance agreed.  
The mixture began to hiss, steam issuing from it. Lance moved back, sliding as far along the counter as he could.  
"Ok, now what?" Hunk said, as far away from the bowl as he could get.  
"I have no idea," Lance said.  
The hissing increased, before the entire thing exploded. Every surface was covered in the mixture, as were Lance and Hunk. Both of them blinked, before bursting into laughter.

****

Lance blinked awake slowly, pain firing through every inch of his body. However, he was alive, how he had no idea. It was dark and very warm, claustrophobic and uncomfortable. Lance took a couple of deep breaths, trying to assess his situation. A heavy pressure was pressing on his skull, reaching up he pulled off his ruined helmet. Ok, so his comms were down, that was bad. His arms were working though, that was good. Lance took several deep breaths through the pain, before moving on. His chest plate was mostly caved in, pain flared through his ribs with each breath. Ok, so they were broken. However, it seemed like his armour had saved his life. That didn't stop the fact that every movement of his legs sent jolts of pain throughout his entire body, or that he was trapped in what was probably a cave in. Lance groaned, dropping his head back.

****

"What are you two doing?" Shiro asked, Lance could picture the quirk of his lips.  
"We? We? It is just me, one tall person in a trench coat," Pidge said.  
"Right...where did you even find a coat that big?" Shiro said.  
"You mean this coat that is able to cover my massive form?" Pidge said, "I asked Coran and he found it for me."  
"Alright," Shiro chuckled, "Just be careful."  
"Yes dad," Pidge said, probably rolling her eyes, "Now come on legs, forwards!"  
Lance started walking forward, readjusting Pidge's legs over his shoulders so she was more secure.  
"Now left!" she said, "Wall! Watch out for the wall!"  
"I can't exactly see," Lance replied, winching as she kicked him with her left heel.  
"Ok, hang on, there's no one around," Pidge said, leaning down.  
The coat in front of his face was opened, so he could actually see where they were going.  
"Oh sweet, I can breathe again," Lance said, "Man it was stuffy in there."  
Pidge laughed, rerolling up the sleeves of the trench coat.  
"Ok, to the common area!" she said.

"So, how was being tall for the day?" Lance asked, kneeling down to let her off.  
"The air is thin up there, I don't know how you cope," she said, hopping down.  
"It is tragic, but some of us have to bear the burden," he replied, resting a hand dramatically over his heart.  
 "Dork," Pidge chuckled, punching him in the arm.  
"Ow! You wound me!" Lance cried dramatically.  
Pidge scoffed and rolled her eyes.  
"Night."  
"Goodnight."

****

Something was niggling at the back of Lance's mind, he wasn't all that sure what it was. He was exhausted and in pain and just wanted to sleep, that feeling would not go away though. A feeling that would not let him rest, a demanding nagging telling him he had to move. If he stayed, he would die. The surface, he had to make his way up to the surface. Lance forced his eyes open, taking several deep breaths, well as best as he could. Red, that was Red in the back of his mind. Now he was concentrating on her instead of his pain, Lance could feel her panic, her fear. Trying to get to him would almost certainly disrupt the delicate balance of the planet and probably kill him.  
"Ok, so I just need to get out of here, where there may not be a way out, with two broken legs. No problem," Lance muttered to himself.

It took a long time for Lance to get moving. Each slight shift caused jolts of pain to run through what felt like every part of him. Eventually, with a lot of pauses and deep breaths, he managed to get into a good position to slowly and painfully start to drag himself along.

****

"Ok, you've dropped a stitch so you need to just," Lance said, leaning over.  
Allura frowned at the makeshift knitting needles, watching Lance's hands carefully as he helped her correct her work.  
"You're doing well," Lance said, "I mean this is your first attempt."  
Lance liked to keep his hands busy, even when he was talking with someone else he liked them occupied. So, he'd asked Allura if they had any knitting needles and wool. After explaining what they were, she lead him to a room full of fabrics, needles and all sorts of other items Lance had no idea of the function of. It also lead him to teaching Allura how to knit.  
"At this pace you may have a scarf in about three years," Lance said.  
Allura raised her eyebrow at him.  
"I'm not sure how long a year is, but I'm assuming you are mocking me?" she asked.  
Lance chuckled.  
"Good natured ribbing princess, no malice behind it," he said.  
Sitting back, Lance continued to work on his project, the rhythmic movement of forming stitches was relaxing.  
Allura chuckled, "Believe me, I know."  
They fell silent, both of them paying attention to their projects.

"My mama taught me how to knit," Lance said absentmindedly, "It keeps my hands occupied."  
"Occupied?" Allura asked, frowning down at her slightly wonky stitches.  
"Yeah. She taught me how to sew too, in a family of six it's useful having someone able to mend their own clothes," he continued, his tongue sticking out in concentration.  
"She bought me a couple of pattern books one year, my fingers were practically bleeding with how much I was doing," Lance said.  
Allura hummed softly, concentrating on her work but still listening. She let him ramble for a while as they worked together, until it was time for dinner.  
"Well, you've not done to badly, much better than Angelica ever did," Lance said, studying her work.  
"Well being instantly amazing was too much to ask," Allura replied, fiddling with the needles.  
"I mean, you can see your improvement," he said.  
Pointing out the difference between the lower stitches and the ones she'd done today brought a smile to Allura's face.  
"I suppose you are right."

****

The pain had faded into the back of his mind, it was still there but it didn't matter all that much now. Lance had to get out of here, there was no way in hell he was dying alone in a cave. Tear tracks had dried down his face, every movement was met with a grunt of pain. Every so often he would have to stop to catch his breath, muscles shaking with the strain. Lance was pretty sure he passed out one or two times, probably more, but Red's voice was insistent in his mind. Keep going, he had to keep going.

****

Lance wriggled his hips, singing idly as he dusted. Cleaning up the castle with Coran was not what Lance had planned to do with his time, but he didn't mind doing it. Basically it gave Lance an opportunity to sing all the songs from Earth he could remember, without anyone interrupting.  
"I haven't heard that song in a long time."  
Lance did not squeal like a little girl, not at all. Whipping around, Lance glared over at Shiro standing in the doorway.  
"How long have you been there?" Lance asked, picking up the cloth he had dropped.  
"Long enough to hear some rather impressive covers of songs," Shiro replied, the corner of his moth quirking up.  
Lance chuckled awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck.  
"I was just," he said, gesturing with his cloth.  
"You always sing while you clean?" Shiro asked, walking over.  
"Pretty much," Lance shrugged, "It's better than silence and some of Coran's stories."  
"I can understand that," Shiro smiled, "Need any help?"  
"Um, yeah? I think that's a feather duster and there may be some space spiders?" Lance shrugged, "It may be something scarier."  
"Scary, while cleaning?" Shiro frowned.  
"I got trapped in a cryopod while cleaning, also it's been 10,000 years, who knows what's in this castle?" Lance said.  
Shiro laughed, "I cannot fault your logic."

Lance ended up singing anyway, Shiro even made one or two requests laughing whenever he tried to hit the too high notes.  
"I'd like to see you do better!"  
"Oh no, I sound like a strangled cat when singing."  
They finished that room without incident, until moving onto the next. When they found the source of what Lance had dubbed as cobwebs, they both stared at it for a minute. It was essentially spider-like, but bigger with longer legs and thick reddish brown hair and really threatening looking pincers.  
"So, you have the duster," Lance said, chuckling.  
"You were the one cleaning," Shiro added.  
"Come on space dad, you can't sacrifice me to that thing," Lance said.  
"I'm not space dad," Shiro grumbled, lighting up his arm and edging forward.  
"If I had my bayard I'd shoot the thing," Lance shrugged.  
The whatever it was seemed to be looking right at them, blinking its way too many eyes.  
"What do you think it's thinking?" Lance hissed.  
"Lance I have no idea and probably don't want to know," Shiro said.  
It moved, suddenly scuttling towards the ceiling. The two of them yelled, backing up as fast as they could.  
"Ok, maybe we should get backup," Shiro said.  
"I'll go see if Coran has any space bug spray," Lance said.  
"Good plan," Shiro said.

****

Lance had passed out, he only really knew this from the fact he woke up with his face plastered to the ground. Turning his head to one side, Lance vomited up what was left in his stomach, which wasn't a great deal. The pain was almost overwhelming, causing his entire body to shake. Lance simply laid there for a while, completely limp on the ground. He didn't even know if he was going the right way, if he was dragging his way towards the surface or deeper into the caves system. Red's voice was to the point of begging now, pleading with him to keep moving, to not give up.  
"It hurts," he whimpered softly to himself, "It hurts so much."  
Another soft voice joined the fray, calming Red down and gently encouraging Lance. It was Blue, he would know her voice anywhere. Keep going, keep fighting, he couldn't give up, couldn't leave his team behind. He had to keep going.  


****

Lance lent back on his hands, humming slightly. He was sat on the bridge, watching the stars go by as the castle ship moved.  
"Good evening number three," Coran said brightly.  
"Evening," Lance replied, leaning forward to wrap his arms around his knees.  
"I believe we are passing by the Rogon nebular tonight, this really is the perfect place to see it from," Coran said, perching beside Lance.  
"It is?" Lance asked, "I didn't know."  
"Yes indeed, it is truly a sight to behold, all the different dusts make so many different colours in the lights of the stars," Coran continued.  
"Sounds nice," Lance said idly.  
"Oh it really is," Coran said.

The nebular crawled into view, a brilliant rainbow of colours shining with stars.  
"Oh wow," Lance said, standing up and moving towards the window.  
"Indeed, it was a favourite destination for many alteans," Coran said.  
"Yeah, there was a place we went on holiday once, there was a waterfall there that cast beautiful rainbows over the rocks," Lance said idly.  
"Rainbows?" Coran asked.  
"Oh  um, when it's raining and sunny at the same time the light shines through the raindrops and makes an arch of colours in the sky," Lance explained idly.  
"Really?" Coran asked.  
"Yeah really, it sounds pretty strange when I explain it," Lance chuckled.  
They stood in silence until the nebula passed by. Lance left for bed, curling up under his covers.

"Ah, number three!" Coran called out, "I have a present for you."  
Lance paused in his walk down the corridor. Coran held out a small crystal structure, Lance took it, frowning in confusion.  
"Hold it up to the light," Coran said brightly.  
Lance did, watching as it caught the light caught it, casting rainbows on the wall.

****

Lance's body shuddered, he was so tired and his throat was so dry. His breaks were having to become more frequent, trying desperately to gain back any amount of energy. He kept going, dragging up any reserve to just keep his body going. Blue and Red were both a presence in his mind, their encouragement kept him going. A few tunnels split off from the side, most of them were too small for him to go down. He kept on the same path forward. Lance wasn't sure how much further he could keep going, especially not when he hit a dead end.  
"No," Lance muttered, "Please no."  
Pressing his hands up against the wall, Lance gave a weak push, nothing.  
"I can't...no...please," Lance said.  
Sliding down onto the floor, Lance let out a wheeze of breath. A gentle encouragement from Blue, turn around, go another way. Lance shook his head, whimpering. He had no strength left, vanishing with his hope and the appearance of a dead end.  
"I'm going to die," Lance whimpered softly to himself.

****

Lance hadn't intended to build a fort in the observation room, he really really hadn't. It had all started with him taking his blankets and pillows there and forgotten to take them back. It was closer to the linen closet than the deck so had just grabbed some more. Eventually it had built up until  Lance had built himself a nice little blanket fort which was incredibly comfortable.

Lance watched the stars from the comfort of his fort, curled up on his side and wrapped in blankets. He was singing softly to himself, an old lullaby his mama used to sing to him. Huffing softly to himself, Lance rolled his eyes.  
"I'm pathetic," he grumbled softly to himself.  
"Lance?" a soft voice called out.  
Lance's spine stiffened, eyes widening. Keith was here, how much had he heard.  
"Oh, hey Keith," Lance called out to him.  
Well, better to dive in than remain silent and make it more awkward. Well more awkward than it already was. The soft sound of footsteps approaching until Keith appeared in his field of vision.  
"So you're the one who built this?" Keith asked, crouching down to look into the fort.  
"Yup, pretty amazing right?" Lance grinned brightly.  
"Eh it's alright," Keith shrugged.  
"Ha! Like you could do any better!" Lance said, crossing his arms.  
Keith scoffed and shook his head. Lance hummed lightly, studying Keith's face carefully. Something was up with his teammate, Lance could tell almost instantly. Keith wasn't an easy person to read, but years of sibling drama made him very adept at reading people.  
"Come, join me in the amazing fort," Lance grinned, patting the soft blankets beside him.  
Keith looked at him for a few minutes, eyes darting between Lance's hand and his face. Eventually he shrugged, moving to crawl into the fort.  
"Ah, stop right there," Keith looked up at him confused, "No shoes in the fort."  
"Are you serious?" Keith said, raising his eyebrows.  
"Yep, off off off!"Lance said, flapping his hand.  
Keith let out an amused huff of breath, tugging off his shoes before joining Lance.  
"Happy?"  
"Admit the fort is amazing."  
"Lance."  
"Do it," Lance crossed his arms.  
Keith huffed a laugh through his nose."  
"Your fort is amazing," Keith said.  
Lance smiled brilliantly.  
"It is isn't it?"  
Keith rolled his eyes.

They sat side by side for a little while, simply watching space go by.  
"I'm sorry," Keith said suddenly, breaking their peaceful silence.  
Lance made a confused noise, looking over at Keith. His eyes were pinned on Lance's bare arm, Lance followed his gaze to the nasty looking bruise decorating his elbow and most of the way up his bicep.  
"Why? It wasn't your fault," Lance shrugged, "I was in the wrong place at the wrong time."  
"You wouldn't have been there if I hadn't..."  
"Bip! Bip! Bip!" Lance  interrupted him, "Don't you dare!"  
Keith looked at him, frowning.  
"It was not your fault," Lance said, "Ok, it was not your fault Keith. You could not predict that would happen alright? No one could."  
Keith looked down at his hands, clenching them tightly. Lance let out a long breath, resting his hand on Keith's shoulder.  
"Don't beat yourself up over some bruises and cuts, no ones in the cryopods," he continued.  
Keith closed his eyes, scrubbing them idly.  
"Sorry, I keep bothering you with this," Keith sighed.  
"Eh," Lance shrugged, "No worries."  
Without even thinking about it, Lance slung his arm over Keith's shoulders. Keith tensed automatically, Lance was about to pull away until Keith relaxed into his hold.  
"So how come you're up here?" Keith asked softly.  
Lance shrugged, "Just taking in the sights, thinking about home."  
Lance wasn't sure exactly when their dynamic had shifted. When the jabs they traded became less hostile and more playful, when they'd started coming to each other with their problems, when Keith no longer pulled away from Lance's physical contact.  
"We'll go back, we'll go back someday," Keith mumbled back.  
Lance kind of wanted to laugh, Keith was terrible at comfort, really the worst.  
"Yeah, ok," he mumbled back instead.

Neither of them ever mentioned the fact they woke up tangled together in a mess of blankets.

****

Lance's breaths were shallow and his eyes were closed. The encouragement and panic from Red and Blue had faded, to be replaced with an almost comforting purr. He was fading. Lance knew that if he let himself fall unconscious, he would probably never wake up. He didn't mind all that much though, the pull was just that strong, although there was this annoying light falling across his eye. That always seemed to happen, if there was even the slightest crack in the curtains it would shine right on your face. Wait. Light. Lance forced his eyes open, following the beam to a chink in the rock. His eyes widened, the light had shifted to the right angle to show him a weakness in the wall. Not only that but there was light, the surface. Lance reached out, hooking his hand around the fallen bit of rubble and pulled. It wriggled and was eventually dislodged, widening the hole.

It was slow going, the light had faded by the time Lance had made the hole big enough to wriggle through. Eventually he managed to get out, flopping onto his back and looking up at the sky. He was at the bottom of a large pit, but was still alive and from the complete and utter joy ringing from Red she could finally come get him. Lance was starting to feel woozy again though. Red was practically screaming at him to stay awake, she was so close, he couldn't die now. But the pain and exhaustion was getting too much, he began to fade even as a flash of red appeared above him.

****

Lance clutched the box closer to his chest, shifting slightly with nerves.  
"Ok, you've got this," he muttered.  
Putting on his best winning smile, Lance entered the kitchen. It was dinnertime and everyone was already sat around the table, Lance himself had hung back after training to make sure he was the last one in.  
"Oh, hi Lance, what've you got there?" Hunk asked brightly.  
"Presents!" Lance said brightly, at the silence that followed he began to ramble, "So you know how I got a hold of those fabrics and wool and stuff to keep me occupied well I decided to make something rather than just randomly stitch and stuff so um."  
Lance fiddled with his fingers, flushing slightly.  
"Come on then," Pidge said, a bright grin on her face, "Let's see."  
Digging through the box, Lance pulled out the small plush owl he had made for Pidge. It was a little lopsided as he didn't have a pattern, but Lance was pretty proud of it.  
"Oh," Pidge said, taking it from him, "It's adorable."  
Lance shrugged, "I try."

Hunk grinned brightly at his stuffed plush dog, balancing it on his shoulder as he continued to serve out dinner.  
"Awh! Look at it!" Shiro grinned brightly at his cat.  
Lance grinned, "I knew you'd love it."  
Allura received a pair of gloves and Coran a hat. The last one, was the one he was the most nervous for.  
"Here," Lance said, pulling out the large stuffed hippo, "Shiro told me you liked hippos so."  
Keith looked like all his birthdays and Christmas had come at once, eyes shining. Reaching out, he grabbed the hippo, pulling it close to his chest.  
"Understatement! Keith loves hippos!" Shiro yelled from where he was toying with his cats ears.  
Keith huffed out of his nose.  
"Thanks Lance," he said, looking up at him through his bangs.

A few weeks later, Lance walked into the kitchen to see all the others crowded around the table.  
"Um guys? What you got there?" he asked.  
Immediately they all whipped around, wearing very guilty expressions.  
"Nothing!" Hunk said.  
"Why would we have anything?" Shiro added.  
"That's just ridiculous," Allura laughed.  
"Way to not be suspicious guys," Pidge said, rolling her eyes.  
"So come on, spill," Lance said, crossing his arms.  
Everyone looked at each other, until they settled on Keith. He sighed, walking over to Lance with his hands behind his back.  
"Sorry it's really bad, but we tried," Keith muttered, slightly pink.  
He held out something grey and slightly scrappy looking, Lance took it, before letting out a gasp. It was a stuffed toy shark, slightly uneven with wonky stitches but unmistakable. A brilliant smile spread over his face, before he clutched the toy to his chest.  
"Guys, I love it."

****

The hiss of the cryopod was all too familiar, as was the stiffness in his limbs and the slight disorientation. However, it meant he was alive. Lance collapsed out of the pod, right into someone's chest to be promptly wrapped tightly in a hug.  
"Hey big guy, how's it going?" he said, patting Hunk's arm.  
Hunk sobbed harder, clinging tightly to Lance like he would slip away at any second.  
"You complete idiot!" Pidge screeched, before jumping onto his back in a hug-attack.  
"Context?" Lance asked, trying to turn to look at Pidge over his shoulder.  
"We thought you were dead! You were missing for three days!" Pidge practically screamed.  
Lance paused for a moment, Pidge was crying too. Then it sank in.  
"Three days!" Lance practically yelped, pulling away from Hunk slightly.  
"The vitals monitoring system on your suit malfunctioned, we had no idea if you were alive down there," Shiro said, eyes a little wet too.  
In fact, if Lance looked around, there wasn't a dry eye in the place.  
"We couldn't take the lions down to look for you either," Allura said, sniffling slightly, "We may have accidentally killed you."  
"We didn't really know what to do," Pidge muttered from his back, "We couldn't leave you."  
Hunk was still bawling, clinging tightly onto Lance. Lance was pretty much frozen in shock, legs starting to shake.  
"Come on now," Allura said softly, resting a hand on Lance's shoulder, "Let's get you something to eat and drink."

Lance tugged on his pyjamas, stretching out his exhausted muscles. He was alive, he almost couldn't believe it. Collapsing backwards onto his bed, Lance scrubbed at his eyes. There was a knock at his door, Lance groaned slightly to himself.  
"Look I'm coming Hunk, geez give me some...oh, Keith hi," Lance said as he answered the door.  
Keith stood in his doorway, looking at the floor slightly pink and fiddling with the sleeves of...  
"Is that my jacket?" Lance said, tilting his head to one side.  
Keith's face grew even redder, it even spread to his ears. Yep, that was definitely Lance's jacket.  
"Yeah, it is. Can I talk to you?" Keith said, all in a rush, looking up.  
Lance felt his own face heat up, now was not the time to be battling his feelings. Chat, between friends.  
"Sure," Lance said, stepping back to let him in.  
Keith stepped in, letting the door slide closed behind him. After a few minutes of both of them standing there, Lance decided to break the silence.  
"So what's up?"  
Lance was really not expecting Keith to launch himself at him, wrapping Lance in a tight hug and burying his face in Lance's neck.

They stood there for a little while, Keith seemed to have no intention of moving and Lance wasn't going to force him, especially after he felt the wet patch growing on his shoulder. So he just stood there, one arm wrapped around Keith's waist, the other softly combing through his hair. Eventually, Keith stopped shaking his breaths evening out.  
"Don't ever do that again," Keith mumbled, voice muffled by Lance's neck.  
"I mean I'll try but we do risk our lives so it's not exactly going..." Lance started.  
Keith's head snapped up, grabbing Lance's cheeks to look him right in the eye.  
"No! There's no try about it! You will not do that again! You won't put us through that again! We..I..I can't do this without you Lance. Please, please don't do that again," Keith said, voice breaking towards the end.  
He released Lance's face, leaning forward until his forehead rested on Lance's collar.  
"Please Lance," he muttered.  
Lance let out a long breath, intertwining his fingers in Keith's hair and tugging until he looked up.  
"I'm sorry, I won't do it again," Lance said softly.  
Keith's face shifted into a serious frown, "No, it won't."  
Lance smiled lightly, pressing a kiss to Keith's forehead. The both stiffened, Keith from surprise and Lance from oh god did I just do that. Lance pulled back, face heating up.  
"Um so that, err," Lance stammered.  
Keith didn't seem to have the same issues, instead surging forward to capture Lance's lips.

Keith was much more hesitant than Lance was expecting, especially as he had initiated the kiss. After recovering from the initial shock, Lance tilted his head to fit them together better and began to kiss back. With Lance reciprocating, Keith seemed to gain his confidence back and returned the kiss with gusto. Lance pulled away, causing Keith to wine in distress.  
"So does this mean you like me back?" Lance asked, smiling slightly dopily.  
Keith huffed and rolled his eyes, but with a smile on his face.  
"Eh, I guess," he shrugged.  
Lance frowned and puffed his cheeks out.  
"Meany," he said.  
Keith chuckled, leaning forward and pressing a kiss to the corner of Lance's mouth.  
"Come on, the others are expecting us."  
Lance smiled, nuzzling their noses together.  
"They can wait a few more minutes?"  
Keith huffed out a chuckle, "I guess."

When they finally entered the common room, with kiss-swollen lips and several dark hickeys decorating Keith's neck, it was to what looked like a huge blanket heap on the ground.  
"Uh, guys?" Lance said hesitantly.  
"Ha! I knew it!" Pidge yelled, appearing seemingly out of nowhere, "I knew him and Keith were making out, I told you so!"  
"Come on, I was worried!" Hunk said, appearing at her side, "He's been missing and I was starting to wonder if it was actually a mass hallucination!"  
"No, mass hallucinations don't leave hickeys, unless Keith has had some private time with the space vacuum cleaner we don't know about," Pidge said with a shrug.  
Keith sputtered, Lance shrugged.  
"Vacuum cleaners don't work to make hickeys," Lance said.  
"How do you know?" Pidge said.  
"Me and Rosa were board on evening so we decided to test the theory," Lance shrugged, collapsing onto the blankets.  
"Yeah but you and your sister will have a similar skin tone, so it's not an accurate representation," Pidge said, sitting down beside him.  
"Find me a vacuum cleaner and I'd be happy to try again," Lance shrugged.  
"Yeah, we won't  be doing that," Shiro said, settling on the other side of Pidge, Allura beside him.  
Pidge scoffed, "Killjoy."

Lance didn't think he'd ever been more comfortable, or warm. Sandwiched between Hunk and Pidge, Keith sprawled out on his chest, Shrio and Allura beside Pidge and Coran on Hunk's other side. The memories of oppressive darkness and pain were sill on his mind, but within the safety and warmth of a heap of his friends, Lance was able to push them aside for a little while, finally able to rest.

**Author's Note:**

> Why do I torture Lance? I don't know when all I want is for my babies to be happy! Anyway I'm trying to get back into writing, I'm just sapped for inspiration which sucks...
> 
> Anyway I should really be continuing my unfinished fics but...whatever...have some of this angst/fluff mix.


End file.
